The River
Today I am struggling through how to explain the Holy Spirit to High school teens. We are in the middle of a study on faith, particularly how to develop a well rounded faith. By well rounded I don’t mean “acts good in public” but “takes into account every area of faith development”. There are six areas we are focusing on and together they form a “wheel” of faith with each aspect being a spoke in the wheel and therefore equally important. They are: Holy, reflective, compassionate, evangelistic, unified, and connected to Gods spirit. Each aspect (spoke) is needed to have a strong faith (wheel).
So here is what I am struggling with. How do you help 14-18 year old teens with limited life experience understand the work of the spirit when our churches are filled with millions of adults who don’t understand it? I have long held that the Churches of Christ suffer greatly from a lack of Holy Spirit Theology. At best we tend to totally ignore the Holy Spirit and have branded it as sensational, corruptible, and worse yet untrustworthy. So how do I take 200 years of Holy Spirit baggage and compress it into an easily understandable 30 minute bible class lesson? When I look into my youth ministry bag o tricks I see lots of communication tools. Power point. Check. Cool sound system. Check. Cool video discussion starters. Check. Donuts and trendy coffee in class. Check. The ability to communicate a living deity of the creator of the universe…..egggggg let me check on that one.
Somehow I don’t think when Jesus said, “Go into the world” he meant to add, “And lecture them into understanding me better”. This lesson cannot be given it must be experienced. Talking about the Holy Spirit is like trying to describe the feel of cool water to someone with no hands. Cleansing water must be felt, experienced, touched. When I worked at Wilderness Trek leading backpacking trips I learned this lesson first hand.
Every week I would not bath the while out on the trail. It’s not as bad as it sounds when you get used to it. Because it was a pain to bath in the backcountry and it was hard to take environmentally friendly shampoo and conditioner with me in my backpack I would just let the funk accumulate. By the end of the week I have to admit I would have quite a stench going. Each week I got more used to stinking and by the end of the summer I even stopped changing clothes regularly. (It really is quite amazing what you get used to when you stop caring)
One week I had a really hard time. Not just physically but spiritually, and emotionally. By the end of the week I was completely fried and ready to cry. To make matters worse I arrived back at base camp late and all the staff showers were taken and had a line waiting for them. Normally I would just go unpack my gear and wait but this was one of those really hot days Colorado gets about twice a year. Setting outside in the sun I suddenly got a whiff of myself. Out of desperation and complete exhausted I went down the river that ran through camp. Taking my shoes off I climbed in with my clothes on and lay down in the cool rushing water. Lying flat on my back with clear mountain water running over me I felt the week wash away from me. Dirt, frustration, anxiety and fear all seemed to wash downstream in clouds of hazy water leaving cool, clear, fresh water rippling over an overtaxed, unclean man. It was floating in the current that day that I first understood baptism. With my arms and legs stretched out, toes pointed downstream, only my nose stayed above the water.
For a few short minutes I floated.
I floated on the water.
I floated above rocks polished smooth by eons of water.
I floated on God’s promises.
Rev 7:17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
I’d say that is the Holy Spirit, wouldn’t you?
So here is what I am struggling with. How do you help 14-18 year old teens with limited life experience understand the work of the spirit when our churches are filled with millions of adults who don’t understand it? I have long held that the Churches of Christ suffer greatly from a lack of Holy Spirit Theology. At best we tend to totally ignore the Holy Spirit and have branded it as sensational, corruptible, and worse yet untrustworthy. So how do I take 200 years of Holy Spirit baggage and compress it into an easily understandable 30 minute bible class lesson? When I look into my youth ministry bag o tricks I see lots of communication tools. Power point. Check. Cool sound system. Check. Cool video discussion starters. Check. Donuts and trendy coffee in class. Check. The ability to communicate a living deity of the creator of the universe…..egggggg let me check on that one.
Somehow I don’t think when Jesus said, “Go into the world” he meant to add, “And lecture them into understanding me better”. This lesson cannot be given it must be experienced. Talking about the Holy Spirit is like trying to describe the feel of cool water to someone with no hands. Cleansing water must be felt, experienced, touched. When I worked at Wilderness Trek leading backpacking trips I learned this lesson first hand.
Every week I would not bath the while out on the trail. It’s not as bad as it sounds when you get used to it. Because it was a pain to bath in the backcountry and it was hard to take environmentally friendly shampoo and conditioner with me in my backpack I would just let the funk accumulate. By the end of the week I have to admit I would have quite a stench going. Each week I got more used to stinking and by the end of the summer I even stopped changing clothes regularly. (It really is quite amazing what you get used to when you stop caring)
One week I had a really hard time. Not just physically but spiritually, and emotionally. By the end of the week I was completely fried and ready to cry. To make matters worse I arrived back at base camp late and all the staff showers were taken and had a line waiting for them. Normally I would just go unpack my gear and wait but this was one of those really hot days Colorado gets about twice a year. Setting outside in the sun I suddenly got a whiff of myself. Out of desperation and complete exhausted I went down the river that ran through camp. Taking my shoes off I climbed in with my clothes on and lay down in the cool rushing water. Lying flat on my back with clear mountain water running over me I felt the week wash away from me. Dirt, frustration, anxiety and fear all seemed to wash downstream in clouds of hazy water leaving cool, clear, fresh water rippling over an overtaxed, unclean man. It was floating in the current that day that I first understood baptism. With my arms and legs stretched out, toes pointed downstream, only my nose stayed above the water.
For a few short minutes I floated.
I floated on the water.
I floated above rocks polished smooth by eons of water.
I floated on God’s promises.
Rev 7:17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
I’d say that is the Holy Spirit, wouldn’t you?
posted by Paul at Wednesday, October 22, 2008
1 Comments:
Very good message there Paul,very true.
Uncle Chuck
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